From our news partners, Weekly News, we have been made to understand that a key prosecutor in the SIPT trial has passed away.
The Swansea Crown Court held a minute’s silence in honour of defense attorney Huw Evans before it sat for business on Thursday, January 9th.
Evans – a native of Carmarthen, Wales – has been the attorney for SIPT defendant Thomas Chalmers Misick for several years in the Turks and Caicos Islands Supreme Court.
Evans, along with other lawyers and defendants in the high-profile corruption case were to resume sitting the final SIPT trial involving Chal Misick, his brother Michael Misick and McAllister Hanchell last week.
However, due to the unfortunate development, the trial has been pushed to February 3, 2025, for resumption.
Speaking with the Weekly News last Thursday, Chief Prosecutor, King’s Counsel Andrew Mitchell related that Oliver Smith KC will be taking over for Evans on Misick’s defence team for the remainder of the trial, along with attorney Kayode Smith.
Evans – the eldest of three boys – was called to the Bar in 1985 before serving in the Royal Navy. According to his profile at his chambers, 30 Park Place in Cardiff, he completed his pupillage in Swansea before starting to practice in Cardiff in 1989. He joined 30 Park Place in 2005.
The long-running trial has not been without its tragedies, with this being its latest development.
The second retrial finally got started December 2nd 2024, after being put on hold for more than a year as the Judiciary searched assiduously for an appropriately qualified judge to preside over the complex case.
This followed the conclusion of the first re-trial in 2022, with a mixed verdict. That verdict was appealed, and a decision is expected from the Court of Appeal sometime this year on the more complex issues.
The entire trial process had to be restarted in 2021, following the death of the trial judge Paul Harrison.
